CreditCard Plus and Loan Protection Direct Sales and Complaints refunds

Why is Commonwealth Bank refunding some customers insurance premiums paid for their CreditCard Plus (CCP) or Loan Protection (LP) policies?

CBA has recently undertaken a review of its CCP and LP policies, following concerns from ASIC with the way that these policies were sold to certain customers.

CBA is providing refunds to certain customers, following a review of historical complaints made in relation to CCP and LP policies.

Who may be receiving a refund of their insurance premiums?

We are refunding premiums to certain customers who raised particular categories of complaints about their CCP or LP policy between 1 January 2013 – 31 December 2018. This includes, for example, certain complaints related to a potential lack of consent to purchase the policy as well as a number of other potential issues.

CBA is refunding the full premiums paid on identified policies plus interest.

How will impacted customers be notified?

Impacted customers will receive a letter confirming the reason for the refund and the refund amount. Current CBA customers will also receive a Netbank message.

Customers who have an open policy will also receive a call from Commonwealth Bank's Direct Banking team. The purpose of the call will be to have customers consider:

• The benefits and exclusions that apply under their CCP or LP policy;
• Whether their policy is appropriate for them when they consider their individual circumstances; and
• Whether they would like to keep or cancel their CCP or LP policy.

How will customers receive their refund?

If you are eligible for a refund and have a transaction account with CommBank at the time the refund is paid, then your refund will be credited directly to this account. The statement description will be “Refund from CommBank“. 

If you don’t have a transaction account, a bank cheque will be sent via post, to the address held on file.

To confirm your address details, or if you would prefer for CBA to deposit the refund into an account with another financial institution please contact us on 1800 632 752, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm (Sydney/Melbourne time). 

 

How are refund amounts calculated?

We will refund 100% of premiums paid plus interest. If you have previously received a premium refund related to your CCP or LP policy, this will be deducted from the amount you will receive as part of this remediation.

What if my policy is still open?

You should consider your own circumstances and ensure this product is right for you. If you have any questions please call Commonwealth Bank on 1800 785 683, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm (Sydney/Melbourne time).

For further details regarding Personal Loan Protection please visit:

   www.commbank.com.au/insurance/personal-loan-protection.html

For further details regarding Home Loan Protection please visit:

    www.commbank.com.au/insurance/home-loan-protection.html

For further details regarding CreditCard Plus, please visit:

     www.commbank.com.au/insurance/creditcard-plus.html

What if I wish to cancel my policy?

You may cancel your policy at any time by contacting 1800 632 752 (or +612 7955 0199 from outside Australia) Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm (Sydney/Melbourne time). Your policy will remain active up until the time it’s cancelled. You can submit claims for events that occurred up until the time that the policy is cancelled, but you can’t claim for any event which happens after you cancel.

Any existing claims you’ve made will not be affected by a cancellation.

What if I have a question or would like to lodge a complaint?

You can call us on 1800 632 752 (or +612 7955 0199 from outside Australia) Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm (Sydney/Melbourne time) if you have any questions.

If we have not responded to your complaint or you are not happy with how we have tried to resolve it, you can ask for your complaint to go through our dispute resolution process. You can do this by contacting our Customer Service Team and asking for your complaint to be escalated to one of our Dispute Resolution Specialists.

CommBank is also a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA; previously known as the Financial Ombudsman Service). If we take more than 45 days to respond to your complaint or you’re unhappy with how we’ve resolved it,  you can contact AFCA directly by visiting www.afca.org.au or calling 1800 931 678.

Accepting a refund, or your decision to keep or cancel your policy, does not affect your right to complain or go to AFCA. ASIC’s MoneySmart website has some useful information about consumer credit insurance that may help you decide if you should keep this policy.